Kentucky city settles discrimination lawsuit with couple pulled over by cops after church

Published 3:39 pm Monday, October 11, 2021

A couple searched by Louisville police officers after being pulled over on the way home from church have been paid $75,000 by the city to settle a federal discrimination lawsuit.

The couple were stopped by officers after leaving a Louisville church in 2018.

The lawsuit was filed in 2019 on behalf of Anthony Parker, his 9-year-old son and girlfriend Demetria Firman, WDRB-TV reported.

The news station obtained the settlement by filing an open records request. It said the city agreed to pay the couple $75,000 on Sept. 9 with stipulations that officials acknowledge no wrongdoing and the plaintiffs refrain from disparaging officers.

In the lawsuit, Parker and Firman claimed police improperly pulled them over because they are Black and were driving a nice car “in a designated target neighborhood of LMPD.” The couple were removed from the car and frisked. The family was eventually released and no ticket was issued.